A two-day meeting of leaders with albinism from across Africa and experts held in Machakos County ended Tuesday.
The meeting aimed at realisation of the rights of persons with albinism, with a regional action plan for fighting attacks and discrimination against people with albinism in the region.
It followed up on the Consultative Forum “Action on Albinism in Africa” that took place in June 2016 in Dar es Salaam and was hosted by the United Nations Independent Expert, Ms Ikponwosa Ero and Open Society Initiatives of Southern and Eastern Africa.
It was organised on the heels of the local civil society event “Mr. & Miss. Albinism Kenya,” which raised awareness on albinism worldwide.
Participants were from 15 countries in the region, including Kenya. They were from government, civil society and national human rights institutions.
“Attacks against persons with albinism for trafficking and sale of their body parts continue to occur across the continent due to ignorance about the scientific basis of albinism, ‘witchcraft’ practices and insufficient government response,” stressed the Independent Expert.
“Civil society and reliable sources report over 600 cases of attacks since 2007 across 26 countries in the region. These are reported cases only. Many attacks are unreported due to the secrecy of witchcraft practice, family involvement, and the likely involvement of the rich and powerful,” said Ero.
“The human rights issues faced by persons with albinism is critical across the region and therefore should be treated with specific and effective action,” she added.
Leaders at this meeting built on the outcomes of the Consultative Forum hosted by Tanzania, to translate them into an action plan against attacks, with a clear time frame, which included simple and effective measures that can be executed at low cost in the region by all stakeholders.
The measures developed are grouped under four thematic areas: preventative measures, protection measures, accountability measures and anti-discrimination measures.
“Specific measures identified included the provision by government, of iron bars and proper locks on doors at the homes of persons with albinism particularly in rural areas as a preventative measure against attacks, the immediate and safe re-integration of people displaced due to attacks, and the provision of cement to families to cover the graves of their deceased members with albinism so that their remains are not stolen, as this is a common problem,” said Ero.
The action plan developed will be further refined by the UN Expert over the coming year before becoming an effective road map for action with specific, concrete and achievable short medium and long term measures to guide all affected countries.
“Now that we have a catalogue of concrete and effective measures which are not very expensive to execute, governments should no longer act ignorant of what to do on the issue. Moreover, given the size of this people group, cost cannot be an excuse. With this meeting and this Plan, we have made their job easier and they too have been a part of this process. It is time to act,” added Ero.